Firebat
by Death and Destruction
Summary: Sequel to marine, a story I did a LONG time ago. You may want to read it first. pg13 for gore+blood, a little on the graphic side when it comes to that.
1. the pylon

Firebat  
  
Well, I guess I'm stuck here, I thought as I watched the last of the ships take off. I was now a corporal, and a firebat, a heavy assault trooper. Because of the way my promotion was handled, I was supposed to stay here while the rest of the marines left for home on a regular rotation that would give them a few months leave before once more sending them back into the fray to fight and die once more. I was left behind due to my promotion. I would not have refused it though, since I was no longer considered as expendable as I was before I was promoted, due to the cost in training me. Not only that but I was also in charge of shaping the new recruits up…  
  
"Get up!! Get on your feet, you better be able to run better than that if you want to live, and if you don't want to live, then I can arrange that right here and now!!" Yes, getting to bull the new recruits into shape was one of the things that I liked most about my promotion, besides the room to myself, and the better, MUCH better food. I especially liked to "help" the ones that were struggling. I was the best about "motivating" them. I proved this by running after the recruit who I had just flamed, and then doing so literally with the twin perdites that I now had mounted onto my suit. I didn't get him much; just enough to wake him up and make him run for his life. He would need the practice.  
  
I did enjoy that, however.  
  
I was now in charge of a twelve-man platoon, and I intended to get the newbies that were assigned to it in the best shape that they would be in for the rest of their lives. Not that that would be an exceptionally long time. I knew that I would lose at least half in the next month, and I refused to allow myself to like the 10 newbies I had.  
  
Because the time that had been spent was not something that you would enjoy. We had attacks at least twice a day. We had recognized at least two different broods at work in this area, and that was something that filled HQ with dread. We had captured the first continent of this world, world mK3421, and our current objective was to take the mines on the third, witch would allow us to take it, and then the final, and largest fourth. We had gotten about one million troops on this planet so far, and lost about half, with one fourth of those dead or injured beyond help. I was aware that HQ was being pressured to take this world and that there were threats of demotions all the way down the line to me. I myself had had that threat once or twice, and didn't care that much. I knew that they would not replace me, being an assault trooper with combat experience.  
  
I thought that everything was good on this base, at least as well as could be expected, until one day we were attacked. Now, this would not be a problem, and I just waited to see if by some strange reason, I got called in as well. Turns out, we all got called in. I was surprised, but I got up, leaving my warm gruel (as opposed to the marine's cold gruel) half- eaten, and I ran with my squad to our bunker. We got called in very rarely because I had managed to get us assigned to the last bunker in the lines of defense. I wondered the attack that could get through the ironclad lines of defense that guarded the base. I soon found out why. It was the Protoss! Massive warriors wielding psi blades that could cut a man in two with one strike. I immediately heard as soon as I got into my bunker the sound of psi- blades being ignited and screams when they found flesh. From the confines of my bunker I can see a Siege Tank being cut open, and the hapless crew being dragged out and cut open. Their screams rang out into the bloody daylight, mingling with the screams of others, both toss and terran. My squad helped out, and I saw a couple shots hitting the protoss zelots. Those blasted shields were more than enough to keep us from doing any real damage, except for the lucky shots that got through. The wave of zelots ran toward us as well, screaming for our deaths. We fired as best we could at the host that rushed upon us, but they still got close enough to tear at our bunker. As we desperately tried to kill them before they got through, my higher-powered flamer came into effect, and I used it with deadly effect, burning away first shields, then flesh. The smell of burning flesh soon became the main odor of the battlefield. They were nearly through, but they were nearly dead, and few in number. A few more shots, and they were dead, our bunker unbreached. Deathly silence now prevailed over the battlefield. In our frantic attempts to keep our bunker in one piece, we had won the battle, or so it seemed. We heard a massive rumbling in the distance that soon materialized to be our worst fears. Reavers, massive machines of destruction, ponderous, but insanely deadly with their hell-balls. Our defensive line, weakened by the zealot rush, was no match for the might of the reavers. One by one, our bunkers were destroyed, the brave men inside screaming as they were torn apart by the forces unleashed in the explosions caused by the reavers weapons. Their screams will probably stay with me as long as I live. Finally, the reavers, undaunted by our small-arms fire, turned toward us, the last bunker. They readied their hell-ball launchers for firing, and… Were destroyed by the wraiths lasers. A full squadron had arrived and was now tearing apart the remaining reavers. They could not defend themselves, and returned, or what was left of their assault force. My squad heaved a collective sigh of relief. We had made it!!  
  
I got my squad out of the bunker and into the daylight. I started to congratulate them. "Good job men, we managed to keep them from taking over our position, and we" – One of my squad exploded into a pile of gore. The one beside him was abruptly cut in half. I knew what this meant. "Dark Templar! Get back into the bunker!" I ran with my squad into the bunker and hoped that they didn't break through. I cold hear them slicing at the walls. I was on the radio, demanding a Comsat. As I screamed into the radio, they broke in. I ordered my men behind me, and I let loose with the twin perdite flamers mounted on my back. That felt good. I knew even if I didn't see them, my flame would still burn them out of existence. It worked for a time, then one got close enough, daring the flames, and cut off one of my perdites. Even spraying the bunker, I knew that they could now get through. I braced for the slice that would end my life…but that would never come. I heard a sound like artillery, and I ordered my men to duck. We did, and the shell fragments didn't get us bad, but the DT's were massacred. I saw three of the ghostly flames that appear when one of them die. I wondered what had caused the destruction, but it was revealed when I looked out of the shattered remains of the bunker and saw the battalion of siege tanks. "Hey guys, what took so long?"  
  
"Corporal Guy, You are ordered to report to HQ for debriefing." Well, dang man, they don't let a man rest do they? I got into the vulture anyways, and was quickly sped to HQ.  
  
Inside HQ all was spacious, and I envied those in higher offices, who didn't have to worry about a zerg attack tearing their life away at any time. Oh well. I got down to business right about the time the general in charge of the colony got around to talking to me. "Corporal Guy, take a seat, will you." It was not a question and I did what I was told. He went on about how well we did, and how me and my squad were the best, but I got a bad feeling that this was just a pep talk before he told me to do something stupid. Sure enough, he soon said something that confirmed my bad feeling. Dang, I hate being right.  
  
"Corporal, we have decided to do a counter-attack on the protoss base, and I want you and your squad to lead it."  
  
"Sir, lead an attack?!"  
  
"Well, not lead it in the literal sense, but you will be going in first."  
  
"By ourselves?"  
  
"Pretty much, yes."  
  
"What is our mission?"  
  
"You are to do a covert ops assault inside the protoss base, you will have no support, and everyone else will be relying on you to take out a certain target deep inside the protoss base."  
  
"Sir, that's suicide."  
  
"That's your job, corporal."  
  
"Sir, if this is a covert ops mission, why aren't the ghosts handling it?"  
  
"Well"-  
  
"I can answer that question for the corporal. The reason the ghosts aren't doing this is that the average ghost doesn't have the firepower to do this alone without a nuke, and our nuke silos were damaged during the attack, and they won't be operational for some time."  
  
I looked in the direction soft voice, to see whom it belonged to. What I saw would haunt me in my nightmares for the rest of my life. It was a Ghost. He was wearing a suit that seemed to shift in the light, so I could badly get a good look at him. It was probably for the best, because if I had gotten a good look at him, I probably would have wet myself. Even then, what I did see was bad enough. I immediately noticed his massive gun. It was a C-10 Canister rifle, a sniper rifle that launched small canisters filled with a super-high-density substance that caused massive damage upon impact with a living organism. It wasn't as good against armor, but for the assassination jobs that Ghosts usually got it was the perfect tool. To go with it, he had a targeting computer/laser sight covering one eye, but the other eye, it was the worst part of looking at him. It was steely gray, with no pupil. It showed no emotion, and I realized that I was looking at a man who could kill me, my squad, and all our extended family's without shedding a tear. He would just get on to another job. They seemed to have no soul, nothing. Just an emptiness from which no love, happiness, nothing that most humans do for fun, could escape. They were like looking into a machine. The man seemed to be just one machine. A killing machine, devoid of all things that might hinder it in its mission.  
  
The General must have heard him as well, although how he got in I didn't know, since he made no noise when he came in, neither of us knew he was here until he spoke. He could have killed us both without our knowing it. He commented "Ahh, Guy, here is your commanding officer for this mission, Xan. He is a Ghost."  
  
Xan spoke in that same eerie, soft voice that sent chills down my spine. "Thank you General, you may leave now, I will be taking over his briefing as of now.  
  
The General left, and I was filled with even more fear. Anyone who could just dismiss a General so easily ranked very, very high on my list of people NEVER to cross.  
  
"Corporal, you will attacking a pylon that is powering the main turrets at the protoss base, which we have uncovered to location using sources you don't need to know about. Those turrets will destroy any heavy assault against them, so you must destroy them before we can attack."  
  
"How do I get in?"  
  
"We have found a small opining in their defensive lines. There is room enough for one dropship. You will be going in through this opening and destroy the target. "  
  
"Who will I have with me?"  
  
"There is 7 other spots open. You have your pick of anyone in the 7th battalion. I would suggest one explosives specialist, and the other 6 are up to you."  
  
"What resistance will we be facing?  
  
"We know that there is an elite zealot platoon guarding it, and a couple dragoons. There is also one templar guarding the pylon itself."  
  
"Is the templar high or dark?"  
  
"High"  
  
I had heard of the high templars, how they were the greatest of the protoss warriors, and how they could tear the air and anyone that was there apart. They could also make people see things that weren't there. I was not looking forward to fighting one.  
  
"When do we leave?"  
  
"You leave at 0600 hours tomorrow. Use this time to get your squad together, and get some rest. You'll need it."  
  
I got back to my squad, and they thought the same thing I did about the mission – it was suicide. I chose 6 of the best marksmen in the colony, which I am proud to say more than a few of the best were in my squad. I also got one demolitionist, a large man from the marines. The rest of us were armed with impaler rifles around our shoulders, and twin perdites mounted on the shoulders of our battle armor.  
  
0600 came all too fast. One second it seemed, I was hitting my officer's bunk, where my feet actually don't hang out, unlike the marines, then the next second I heard my barracks commander yell for us to get up. I piled into the dropship with the men I was commanding, and signaled for us to lift off.  
  
The length of time until drop seemed endless. Some men used it to tell jokes, or smoke cigarettes. I used it to plan the route we would take from the drop off point to the target. We had to go through a small field right after drop, then a canyon with flanking cliffs. Those were the locations were the anti-air turrets were firing from. Through the cliffs was the only entrance. After that, there was a small forest, then a large plain where our target was. It seemed impossible, and probably was. I wondered how many of us would get through. Probably none of us. I was not afraid for my own death, I had been nearly killed two many times to worry about that, but I was worried about what would happen if we failed.  
  
I didn't have long to worry about it, though. Our target drop site came up soon. The drop-off was textbook, nothing to worry about here. I watched the ship take off, and set my watch. We had three hours to finish this mission. I ordered my men to move out.  
  
The meadow was clear, nothing to worry. When I saw those cliffs, though I knew there would be trouble. I could sense it. There was no way the protoss would leave something like this unguarded. Still, they could make a mistake, but I doubted it. We moved forward, watchful for any signs of an ambush. We still never saw this one coming.  
  
Suddenly, from our left, their came 3 zealots, all screaming something about some place called Aiur. I didn't know what that was, and I didn't need to know. All I needed to know was that they were the enemy, and they were to be killed.  
  
And kill them we did. My men fired like they had trained together for a year. The zelots had no chance against the concentrated barrage of fire we were bringing down on them. Only one of the three managed to get near us, and our flamers roasted him like a pig on a spit. I warned my men that there might be more. We went on, passing through the shadow of those ominous cliffs. We saw nothing for some time, but we knew that it could only last for a little while.  
  
We were proven correct a short wile after when we heard the distinctive whine of an anti-matter engine. I yelled for all of us to take cover, which we did, but I hoped that it didn't see us scrambling for cover. It flew past, so I thought that it didn't notice us, but there was still a chance. We would find out soon, I guess.  
  
We did find out soon. We encountered nothing more inside the canyon, but as soon as we came out, 4 dragoons were waiting for us. I had heard of the dragoons, dead protoss warriors somehow brought back and powering a suit of armor, and the energy burst of those things was unholy. We saw that for sure now, when one of them fired a burst and killed one of my squad. His flesh first fried off, then his blackened bones-all that was left- crumpled to the ground. We returned fire, one of my men hitting the power system of one, detonating it. 3 left. I ordered my men to move around and try to dodge them. One of my men dived out of the way just as a shot nearly got him. Another wasn't that good, and his leg was burned off. Our fire got the best of another one, and my flames seared the armor from the third, allowing the suspension fluid to spill on the ground. We all concentrated fire on the last as my medic healed my wounded man. The last dragoon got one more shot off, burning away another man. 2 dead, this would be hard. Our man was restored, how I don't know, those medics are VERY good at their jobs.  
  
We trudged into the forest, mourning the loss of our comrades. I looked around for turrets or anything else, but saw none. We got through the forest without incident.  
  
Leaving the forest, we saw the target. It was huge, as big as a five-story building. I ordered my men towards it. When we got closer, we saw a few zelots, 2 dragoons, and a High templar. I ordered my men to attack, and they did. We got a few of the zelots before the nightmare began. Suddenly the air around us crackled with lightning! I felt myself being tore apart. The pain was beyond anything I had every known. I ran out of there, screaming in agony. Only 4 of my squad mates got out. 2 zelots got out as well. I fried one with m y flamers, but the other got one of my men in the neck. He fell, screaming. The medic, one of those who survived the lightning, was roasted by a dragoon shot. My remaining men blew away the other zealot. Then the lightning again! I ran out of it, seeing only 2 men left, and the one with the neck wound nearly dead. I ran at one of the dragoons, firing as I went. He fired at me, and I jumped to the side. I got close enough the burn him, but his shields took it. Then I heard a series of shots. The other dragoon was dead, at the cost of one more man. The one in front of me readied to fire and – was killed by the guy with the neck-wounds final shot. He then died. All that was left was the high templar. I aimed- then there was three of them!! I fired at one, but its shields took it. I had my squadmate fire at it as well, and we got past it's shields, fired some more- only to see it vanish in a cloud of smoke. I screamed at the pain now going through me. It had cast lightning again! My squadmate was torn apart, his blood and organs bursting out over the field. I used my flamer to burn another illusion away. All that was left was me and the high templar. He ran toward me, hands ready to strangle me. I burned him out of existence.  
  
When I saw all that was left of the battle was smells and burns, I got the explosives from the marine who was carrying them and placed them on the pylon. I set the timer and ran.  
  
About 30 seconds later, I heard a defining explosion, and saw the pylon crumble into pieces. I got my radio out, and spoke the wonderful words that meant I was done. "Mission Accomplished." 


	2. flier problems

Firebat CH 2  
  
"Mission Accomplished" I said, elated that I was done with that hellish mission finally. I felt horrible that my men were all dead, and even worse that I felt good at having outlived them, but elated or despondent, I was not prepared for the cold response to my broadcast.  
  
"Not yet"  
  
"What?!!" I couldn't decide which I was more shocked at, the words themselves or the voice that spoke them. It was Xan, the ghost that had scared the #$%#ses out of me at the mission briefing for this. What was he doing now?  
  
"What do you mean, sir?"  
  
"I mean that you are not done yet. You are in a unique position to handle this assignment, and you will do this, understand?"  
  
"Yes Sir"  
  
"Good. You are to go to the front lines of the enemy base where the attack has already started, and you will receive further instructions there, understand?"  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
I managed to sneak back to my lines without further incident, although there were a few close calls with patrolling zealots. After an extensive debriefing on what I saw, I was ushered into a mobile field base, and left to wait for my briefing.  
  
I waited maybe 5 minutes before an admiral came in. He sat down across from the table that had been provided.  
  
"Well, I see you made it back safely. But that doesn't matter anymore, now we have a new problem. Our command is being hit very hard by protoss aircraft. We- his words were cut of by the sound of a bomb going off very close nearby. "You see my point? Were getting hit by the anti-matter missiles of the protoss scouts even now. This is a small attack, as well. You think this is bad, wait until the carriers come in later tonight. Our ghosts try to lockdown some of them, but… he trailed off, shrugging helplessly. We can't get them all, and those sons of #$!'s warp them in faster than we can waste them."  
  
"At this point I had to interrupt "Sir, this is bad, but I'm no pilot, what do you want me to do? Where do I come in?"  
  
He looked at me with an expression that could melt glass. "Where you come in Corporal Guy, is taking out their hangers. We control the orbit, so the bigger ships can't go up there to stay, not without getting torn to pieces, and they can't hover indefinitely. We have located 5 main hangers that they keep them in. They are spread out, so we don't expect you to get them all, in fact we don't expect you to get more than one. Getting just one, however, should buy us more time until we can get some anti-air defenses set up. Corporal, I cannot stress the importance of this mission enough. If these hangers aren't destroyed, then we will have to break off the assault, and all those lives will be wasted. That will make me VERY unhappy. In fact, I believe my unhappiness will be rivaled only by your own. Do you understand me?"  
  
"Yessir" I said, understanding his implied threat completely.  
  
"Sir how am I to take out these hangers without support? I am no ghost."  
  
"Who said that you will have no support? That was never stated. You will have 3 ghosts to assist you, and as many nukes as can be spared."  
  
"How many is that, sir?"  
  
"It will change as we go, but as of now, about 4"  
  
4 nukes. That was destructive capability beyond any I had encountered, with the exception of the fleet that got me here.  
  
"Sir, why am I the one who is expected to do this mission? I am sure we have better, more experienced offi-"  
  
"No, we don't, at least, none that have been that far into enemy territory as this mission will go without dieing. You seem to have an uncanny ability to get in and out of danger. I wonder…" He trailed off, looking at me oddly. "No matter. We have no one else that could do this job with the same chance of success as you. Get going. You have a mission briefing in 15 minutes, and leave in an hour. Dismissed."  
  
I walked to the mission briefing building with many thoughts on my mind. The fact that I had thoughts should have surprised me. Marines weren't supposed to think, just to do. No, I am a thinking human being, regardless of whether I was just a number is some @#$%!ed military hierarchy. As I continued, I proceeded to describe my opinion of the high command in my head with surprising detail, and none of it was complementary, and little of it was appropriate for a lady to hear. I did this for so long that I was nearly late for the briefing. I went in just as the colonel briefing us yelled at everyone to sit down and shut up. As I sat down, he began.  
  
"All right," he said, pointing at a large map "Here are the locations of the 5 hangers. We have a team going after all five, but you are the best one, so Merry Christmas! You get the most heavily guarded and defended base," he said, his face brightening in a mock smile.  
  
"Here is your target. It is in the center of the enemy base, bordered by a few regular barracks, and a couple pylons. If you can, you are to attempt to destroy those with the blast of your nukes as well. Resistance will be heavy, we expect for they're to be several patrols, and there will probably be the ships themselves, which will be going in and out. Get as many of them at once as you can. There is one good thing; though- you are the last to go in so hopefully they will be attempting to kill the other infiltration teams. Of course, you will be having the same problem. Questions?"  
  
"What about extraction? How do we leave?"  
  
"After completion of your mission, you will be pulled out at a point about 1 mile north of the target. We will have a dropship staying nearby, it will come when you call-literally. Here." He gave me a small radio. "It is attuned to a special frequency, only detectably by special equipment in the dropship, and in HQ. Do not let this radio fall into enemy hands, at all costs. Understand?"  
  
"Yessir"  
  
"Good. You all have the best EQ waiting for you in the armory room. Goodbye, and -" here his face softened ever the slightest bit. "Good luck."  
  
We left for the armory, each of us getting a gun we preferred. I noticed that all three of the ghosts immediately went for a large canister rifle, and the cloak suit that went with them. One of them handed me a cloak module for battle armor – a cloak device designed for non-ghosts. "It runs of an external battery, not your physic energy, so you only have a limited time, and it will not recharge, so be careful about using it. It should last for about 5 hours, as long as it isn't hit, that drains the battery." I accepted it with my thanks, and got the thing which I liked most- a new combat suit, like the standard firebats, except with a small gatling gun attached to one arm, and a sniper rifle with a scope in the other. It had a place for the cloak module from the suit as well. I had heard about these, and knew that the colonel wasn't bluffing when he said we had the best EQ, at least if we had this thing to use. There weren't many of them around.  
  
Once done with suiting up, we had gotten into the dropship, and it had taken off. On the way, the pilot gave us a few last-minute briefing notes and reminders  
  
"Remember, we will be landing about half a mile to the northwest of the base. From there it is about 3 miles to the target zone. Use stealth as much as possible, and you may yet stay alive. Take it out, or else I won't be able to get close enough to pick you up. This is all or nothing boys, don't forget that."  
  
With that and other, equally pleasant reminders, we got off. The area was desolate, charred to a blacked desert by the artillery shells that we had launched before we realized that they had a massive anti – shell defense system. The nukes would not be affected by it, they could take the lasers fired at them, but a standard "Dumb" shell could not. We headed southeast, cloak suits on, until we reached the first barrier of the enemy base.  
  
We had been warned that we would enter the first barrier a small distance before entering the base itself. The first wall was one of observers. Observers. The small, nearly invisible things were the bane of all cloaked things. They didn't even have the decency of letting you know they were there. You didn't know they could see you until you were already dead. We had come prepared, though. Each of us had a set of goggles that could detect cloaked objects built into our suits. They drained their energy fast, though, so we would only have enough power for this one engagement. "Alright" I whispered "Each of you, nail one of those four"- I indicated four observers that guarded an area. Once they were gone there should be a hole in the detection large enough for us. I would have rather went in a hole already opened, but orders said to open a new one. Oh well. Even if they knew we were here they would not know our numbers. With luck they would not send in enough men, being stretched thin already. "Fire"  
  
At once 4 silenced rifles fired, 4 observers exploded into a brilliant, if small shower of sparks. I admired the ghost's efficiency- each of their observers had been hit in the main control unit, assuring a quick and easy kill.  
  
Immediately 2 observers moved toward our position. Expecting that, our team had already begun to move. We ran silently through the hole, my suit making much more noise than I wanted. I had to the start asking that ghosts do these missions, not me!! Well, they needed a commander that knew combat, and one that knew firepower. Ghosts were notorious for not doing well once their targets knew they were there, and could not do well in a real firefight at all. Covert tactics are all well and good, but they only went so far.  
  
We moved in the gap made by the observers, being just barely missed by a few others sent to plug the gap. We were in. Now we had to take out the most heavily defended part of the entire protoss base.  
  
We moved on, silently each watching for threats. No one had seen us-yet, but I knew that our luck had to change. As if summoned by the thought, a trio of zealots came toward us, two observers floating above them. I looked around-no cover. We had to fight them. I told the ghosts to get ready; their shields weren't up yet. We had to kill them before they saw us, or else the fight would get a lot harder. "Fire" At my command, each of the ghosts launched a c-10 canister shot at one of the zealots. The shot went into the head of each, then destroying whatever the protoss call a brain. The zealots staggered and fell, each bleeding from a hole in the head. I used the gatling gun in my suit to destroy both the observers before they could get away. It made some noise, but they already knew that we were here. We moved on, faster than normal in the hopes we could be out of the area before anyone looking for us could get there. We didn't run fast enough, it appears. We were attacked by a flight of scouts doing patrol. We looked around for an observer, but we didn't see any. "Get under cover" I said into the helmet mike. We ran under cover, hoping the scouts hadn't seen the blurs of light. We had had nothing that could take on a scout, and I didn't feel like trying with the equipment that we had. The scouts passed us by, but I couldn't shake the feeling I had that they had seen us and just didn't want to alert us to it. Regardless, we moved on.  
  
We were now close to the target area, in fact we could see the hanger from here. Unfortunately, this was also the location of a line of cannons.  
  
Those cannons were the bane of any ghost. They had shields on permanently, and were also detectors. Their cannons would rip us apart if we got in range. "All right, anyone got any ideas about how to deal with these? I say we nuke them. Any other ideas?  
  
"If we nuke them, then won't we have every protoss in the base attacking us?"  
  
"Probably, but if we rush those cannons, it will be the same way. The time for stealth is over."  
  
"Sir, with all due respect, when you have stealth, you use it. I say that we try to find a hole or gap in the defenses."  
  
"Fine. You have five minutes. If you're not back by then, I will assume you died and go ahead."  
  
"Yessir"  
  
Less than five minutes later, he returned. "Sir, I found a small hole in the defenses. They couldn't set up cannons because of some rocks in the terrain, and they have shield batteries there."  
  
"Observers?"  
  
"Couldn't tell"  
  
"Alright. Lets go there and order a comsat shot." We left and got there. It was very close to where we were. Too close, in my opinion. I smelled a trap.  
  
We got there and had the comsat fired. Nothing. The ghost who mentioned the idea smirked at me. "Told you"  
  
"Lets just get the job done."  
  
As we went through the hole in the enemy lines, we heard a tremendous alarm. "Motion detectors!" We ran through the hole and saw- Dragoons. Lots of dragoons. "Crap" They didn't fire at once, which I found very strange. Then I saw blurs advancing from both sides. "Observers coming in!" I yelled, "Head for the hanger!" We ran forward, with the observers close behind. If they detected us… We soon found out what would happen if that occurred. One of the ghosts-the one who led us here, I observed grimly, had tripped on one of the rocks that frequented the area. He fell, and before he could get up, the observers had spotted him. He died with an agonized shriek, quickly cut off, by the energy blasts from the following dragoons. His was the only casualty, the rest of us made it to within nuke range of the target with a small margin-we ran with the speed of madmen. Very interesting, that. I wonder if it had anything to do with the suits as well. If it did, then I was certainly happy for it, because it saved me from a very crispy-not to mention early demise. As soon as the range- finder in my helmet reached maximum nuke range I gave the order. "Set up and nuke-all three of you!" As they set up the laser sights for the big ones, I turned around and called in a comsat, ready to take out the observers. I got it fast-this mission was high priority, as comsats were hard to get and most of the time the unit that called it in was dead before it fired off. Using the computer built into my suit, I took advantage of it (and its sight range-which was greater than mine) I fired off the sniper rifle built into my suit-once, twice, three times. Each bullet took an observer with it. I ordered the comsat officer to keep a continuous shot on my position, so I could hit any observers before they allowed the goons- which had surrounded us now to hit us. I was picking them off as they came (cursing the distance between the two bases which was making the ghosts have to stay in position longer) when I saw the outline of a high templar. I made it my priority, knowing the ghosts couldn't take a psi storm and live, not without the armor that I had at least. I resolved on the spot to send in an idea up to high command to have ghosts wear the armor I had, and not the flimsy plastic make up armor they currently wore.  
  
I finally got a shot off into that *&%&^$(ing high templar, past its shields, and was rewarded by a fountain of gore that erupted from the hollow that, until recently, served as its head. All was not great, however. I heard shots from behind, then a scream. I spun around- but not in time to keep myself from getting hit. I flew forward from the force. I spun in the air to land on my back and roll, like I had been taught in training. I came up on my feet, shaken-but not enough to keep me from missing the observer that had snuck up from behind when I was shooting the High templar. I checked my suit and everything seemed okay. My back armor had taken the blast, it seemed. I though the armor was good, but not that good. My team had not fared so well. One was a crater on the ground where at least 5 shots had hit it at once. Another had been shielded by his now slain comrade, and was unharmed. The last had been hit in the arm-it no longer existed. He still kept that little dot aimed, though, balancing his gun with his other arm and on one knee. I was impressed. I had previously thought that ghosts were not very tough. I had to rethink that, obviously. As I stood there, amazed, he got up. I knew what that meant and had been waiting for it. I ordered a comsat back in the direction of the hole-with all luck they would think we were going that way-and fired my gatling gun in that direction periodically, to heighten the effect. A few dragoons went that way, but the rest went north, following us closely. "Kill all the observers you see as soon as possible," I yelled. "Ignore the others, and RUN!" The last was added because I (finally!) saw the nukes drawing close to the target. I looked away when they hit, for fear of going blind from the light, but when I looked back again I smiled.  
  
The hanger was no more, unless you count flaming rubble- (and not much of that) as a building. A large number of dragoons had been destroyed with it. Too many were still chasing us. Of course, I considered 1 too many. We made our way out of the protoss base without too many difficulties. There were a few close calls, but nothing greatly distressing. When we were about halfway to the extraction point, I called in the dropship and some air cover. "Probability of a hot LZ" I warned. "You may want a few wraiths to support. We have dragoons chasing us."  
  
We were almost safe, in sight of the dropship when I felt a difference in my suit. I looked down and realized that my cloak had dropped! I hastily flipped the switch on and off, but nothing happened. Still running, I pulled the battery out. I found the problem at that point. There was a massive char mark on the back of the battery and I remembered the hit I had received from the dragoon. I thought that my armor wouldn't have taken that much. I counted myself lucky beyond any account that it had not stopped before. I ran faster, hoping to reach the dropship before anything got me. I knew the dragoons were a ways off, but…  
  
My fears were confirmed when I heard the whine of fusion engines going at a ferocious clip. I was very close to the dropship, which had landed. My squad mates were already in, they not being burdened by my armor. I heard the lovely sounds of missiles being launched (normal missiles, not anti- matter) and an explosion. Other missiles were being launched. Sounded like a full-fledged dogfight going on up here. I heard another sound closer than the others, one that filled me with cold fear. I heard the sound of gunfire. Not the gatling-gun sound of terran machine guns, but the lighter, softer sound of the protoss energy burst guns. They were bursting all around me. The door was so close now, so close… PAIN!! Stabbing, burning pain in my leg!! I was hit! I tried to keep running, to reach the dropship, but my leg no longer supported me. I fell, screaming as I had seen so many others do time and time before. The only good thing was that I felt pain, which meant the leg was still there, but right now I would have cut it off in a heartbeat to stop the pain. The fighter flew on, but turned around for the kill. "Corporal! Grab my hand!!" I looked up, and through a red haze I saw a hand reaching… reaching for me. I summoned strength from reserves I didn't know I had and grabbed it- being pulled in just before energy peppered the ground where I just was. As the doors closed and the last of the scouts were destroyed, I sank into blessed unconsciousness.  
  
Pain… More pain. I opened my eyes. Over me stood a medic. "You'll be okay."  
  
"Pain… Hurts"  
  
"I know. Go back to sleep." She put a needle in me, pushed the plunger, and I knew no more.  
  
I woke up once more, and was pushed back into unconsciousness. When I woke for the third time, I stayed awake, and the pain, while not fun, was at least… tolerable. I sat up, or tried at any rate. I could barley move anything, even my arms. My first thought was what if I had an itch. My second was to relieve myself, which I promptly did. Only then did I realize that the nurse was not there. I yelled, and she came in fast. "Good, your awake. If you woke up on your own, and" (she wrinkled her nose at this) "capable of bodily functions, then it is time to take of the bandages." She proceeded to do this, and when I had dressed, mentioned to her about how fast it had healed. It looked as good as new! "Medical technology has progressed quite rapidly," she said. "We are able to project a sort of radiation that, instead of killing cells, encourages them to grow and multiply. Our medics have a smaller, hand-held version. It healed the burns and holes in you leg quite well. Unfortunately, you will still have a scar." I thought that was ok. Chicks dig war scars, or at least the movies make it look like that. "You will also get the purple cross." That I liked too. Those were instant respect among the troopers. Once you had a wound, and lived, you were big stuff. I tested my leg, and yes, it was as good as new. The medic watched me with amusement. "I know what I'm doing. You can leave now, we have other wounded. You are also needed at headquarters. Go!"  
  
I left, properly chastened, and headed for the main command center. I wondered what sort of insane or suicidal mission that I would get this time. What I did not expect, however was what I got:  
  
"Corporal Guy, for you excellent two missions behind enemy lines, you have been awarded the UED cross, level 3. You also will be sent home for a one year break as an example to the other troops on what we do with heroes" HOME! Finally! I was so excited with this I almost didn't hear the next words he spoke: "During this period, you will be promoted to sergeant, and given a new vulture hoverbike, and trained on it, the goliath heavy assault mecha, and the siege tank emplacement assault vehicle. Were not going to let a soldier of your caliber get away from us completely. Enjoy the break, though.  
  
I enjoyed myself at the banquet held afterwards; after all, it was in my honor. That is, I enjoyed it until the very end, where Xan, the ghost general spoke several words to me: "Enjoy your break while you can, because I already have plans for you." I resolved on the spot to enjoy myself as much as possible, and when I got back, to stay away from Xan as much as possible. 


End file.
